The cost of business in Russia
BY MIRREN GIDDA , JACK MOORE ON 2/16/17 AT 8:18 AM
... Hours after Flynn left, a new blow struck the Trump administration. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that several of Trump’s aides had been in regular contact with Russian intelligence officers and members of the government.
One of the implicated people, the Times’ sources say, is Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who worked as an adviser for the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He denied the charges. “I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers,” Manafort, who has done business in Russia, told the Times.
That may be true. But when you are dealing with Russian associates, as Manafort — who holds business interests in both Russia and Ukraine — reportedly was, you surely must be aware that there is a possibility of surveillance from Russian intelligence officials, according to several people who worked in Russia. “It is almost impossible for me to believe that somebody who worked for Yanukovych, who has those connections, who was heading the Trump campaign, is not being approached by people in the Russian government constantly,” says Jamison Firestone, co-founder of the Russian law firm Firestone Duncan.
Current members of the U.S. government agree. “Manafort, he’s no rookie, you think he would have a better experience level with this,” says a State Department official ...
http://europe.newsweek.com/russia-donald-trump-michael-flynn-paul-manafort-557270